Queen Victoria Street, Reading

Broad Street is a main pedestrianised thoroughfare and the primary high street in the English town of Reading. The street is situated in the town centre, running for approximately 0.25 miles (0.40 km), from west to east. The western end of the road lies at the crossroads with Oxford Road, West Street and St Mary's Butts. The eastern end continues as King Street after the junction with Minster Street and Butter Market (Market Place). Today the street is principally known as a shopping destination, being anchored at its east and west ends respectively by The Oracle and Broad Street Mall enclosed shopping centres. However the street has also played an occasional role in English history, most especially during the Battle of Reading (1688), sometimes referred to as the Battle of Broad Street.

Heelas (now branded as John Lewis & Partners) is a major department store in Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It was known as Heelas until 2001 and that name is still in common usage. The store fronts on to Reading's main pedestrianised shopping street, Broad Street, and backs onto Minster Street and The Oracle shopping centre. The store has belonged to the John Lewis Partnership since 1953.

The Malmaison Hotel Reading (formerly the Great Western Hotel) is a grade II listed hotel in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated at the junction of Blagrave Street and Station Road, directly opposite the main entrance to Reading railway station. It was opened in 1844, shortly after the Great Western Railway opened its line from London, and is thought to be the oldest surviving purpose-built railway hotel in the world.

Union Street, also known locally as Smelly Alley, is a pedestrian alley in the centre of the English town of Reading. It is lined with small shops and other retail outlets, and connects Broad Street and Friar Street. The name Smelly Alley came about in the 1940s, as there were many butchers and greengrocers, as well as two wet fish shops. In the 1970s there were four butchers, two greengrocers and two wet fish shops; also a baker's shop, two record shops, a hi-fi shop, a shop selling jeans, a cafe, a roast chicken shop, a chocolate shop and a hardware shop. The name Smelly Alley comes from the presence of the long-established Frosts, a fishmongers. 2019 saw the closure of Frosts, considered the last of the ‘smelly’ shops. The Grumpy Goat, a cheese and beer shop, opened on the street in 2020. The owners were quoted in local media as looking to make ‘Smelly Alley smelly again’

See also Battle of Reading (871), Siege of Reading (1642–1643)The Battle of Reading took place on 9 December 1688 in Reading, Berkshire. It was one of only two substantial military actions in England during the Glorious Revolution (the other being at Wincanton), and was a decisive victory for forces loyal to William III of Orange. The victory was celebrated in Reading for many years.

Broad Street Independent Chapel is a former nonconformist chapel dating from 1707. It is situated in Broad Street, now the principal shopping street of the English town of Reading. The building has been reused as a branch of the Waterstone's chain of bookshops. The building is a Grade II listed building.

Friar Street is a thoroughfare in the English town of Reading. It runs parallel to Broad Street, connected by Union Street, Queen Victoria Street and Cross Street. At the western end is the Greyfriars Church and at the eastern end are the Town Hall and St Laurence's Church.

Eurospeak Language School is an institution that specializes in English language training and cultural exchange. The school was founded in 1991 and is in Reading, United Kingdom. The founder of Eurospeak, Michael O'Brien, died in 2011. Eurospeak also has a "subsidiary" in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Each year, Eurospeak welcomes more than 1,349 students from over 71 nationalities. In May 2018, Eurospeak submitted a planning application to create new premises at Cumberland Place, Southampton. The planning application was approved, and Eurospeak Southampton opened in October 2018.

The Oracle was a workhouse that produced cloth in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The Oracle shopping centre, which now occupies a small part of the site, takes its name from the Oracle workhouse.

Thames Tower is an office building in Reading, UK.

The statue of Queen Victoria stands at the western end of Friar Street outside the Town Hall of Reading, Berkshire, in southern England.

Abbey is an electoral ward of the Borough of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. The ruins of Reading Abbey lie within the boundaries of the ward, a fact from which it derives its name. The ward covers the centre of the town, south of the River Thames, and is bordered by Battle, Thames, Redlands, Katesgrove and Coley wards. Although including significant portions of both the suburbs of West Reading and East Reading, the ward lies almost entirely within the Reading East parliamentary constituency, with only a few streets to the west of George Street in the Reading West parliamentary constituency.As of 2016, there were some 13,500 people living in Abbey ward, of whom 16.1% were aged under 16, 6% were aged 65 and over, and 44% were born outside the UK. The population lives in a total of just under 6,800 dwellings, of which 57% are in purpose-built blocks of flats, just over 20% each are terraced houses, and just over 10% are flat conversions or shared houses, with detached and semi-detached houses making up the rest. Of the population aged between 16 and 74, 72.4% are in employment and 5.1% are unemployed. Of those in employment, 60% are in managerial, professional or technical occupations, with 34% in professional occupations.As with all Reading wards, the ward elects three councillors to Reading Borough Council. Elections since 2004 are held by thirds, with elections in three years out of four. These councillors are currently: Tony Page (2016; Labour), Karen Rowland (2018; Labour) and Mohammed Ayub (2019; Labour).